Very nice. I can't come up with a decent clue on this. It's putting me in a valley of depression that the kings of comedy can't get me out of. (Okay, so it's a little over the top, but I'm desperate.)
One of the interesting historical and archaeological things about VALLEY OF THE KINGS is that you can see the massive tomb monument of Abu Simbel used in a lengthy sequence, for one near last time in its original location, BEFORE it was cut apart, piece-by-piece, and moved to higher ground in a $40+ million-dollar preservation project sponsored by UNESCO. Fund-raising began in 1959, disassembly and re-construction work began in 1964, and everything ended when its new home was completed, further back from the water and on higher ground along the Nile in 1968.
This was all done to protect the magnificent monument from the rising waters of Lake Nasser reservoir, created by the construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile.
I remember well when this was going on, and it was major historical news at the time, not only for the unheard of attempt to try to move the monument in this complex and hugely expensive fashion, but also that it was important enough to everyone to be done at all.
This movie is really a potboiler---in the Egyptian and also treasure-hunting cycle of films of the early 1950s (THE EGYPTIAN, SERPENT OF THE NILE, LAND OF THE PHARAOHS, SECRET OF THE INCAS, THE GOLDEN MASK/SOUTH OF ALGIERS, TREASURE OF THE GOLDEN CONDOR, etc)---but I've always held a fond spot for it in my moviegoing memories. Parker and Taylor are an excellent team, the production is beautiful, as is the photography (and, of course, Eleanor!). Then there is that Rozsa score---also one of my favorites.
Curiously enough, there is no producer credited on this, which is very unusual. I remember there was some discussion about this in 1954, but I don't recall now what the gist of the producer credit omission was (or who it was). I'm guessing the anonymous producer might have been Sam Zimbalist who was the studio's "go to" man as producer for these involved foreign-location films like QUO VADIS, KING SOLOMON'S MINES, MOGAMBO in the early 1950s period and, later, BEN-HUR. The production is quite logistically detailed, and certainly nothing to be ashamed of, so why the producer chose to go uncredited is an interesting mystery.
(Incidentally, VALLEY OF THE KINGS was composed in widescreen at a 1.75-1 ratio---so all the clips and trailer on YouTube are incorrectly transferred. Too bad. Widescreen gives this film a lot more spatial excitement.)
Abu Simbel is also seen in KHARTOUM (1966), albeit without those shenanigans atop Pharaoh's head. The film was a roadshow "Cinerama" release in New York, and I believe that the opening night served as a benefit for the UNESCO restoration project, then in progress. A handout to that effect was included with the souvenir program book.
The pharaoh is of course Rameses II, traditionally associated with the Exodus, although that event cannot be documented. The miniature female figure between his knees is Nefertari, the Anne Baxter character in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. No wonder she looked so unhappy at the end of that movie!
Like Spielberg's 'Last Crusade', which plundered VotKs as one of its influences, the whole Abu Simbel thing took the viewer right out of the story, since it's just such a well-known monument. It's like someone finding the Eiffel Tower in France and passing it off as some lost relic. Spielberg did it with Petra in his film, again far too familiar and iconic to pull off the illusion.
